Aggies rally to complete sweep of Tigers
COLLEGE STATION — Auburn showed up in Reed Arena in orange uniforms, and the lively Aggies coincidentally responded like they were facing a former league rival also sporting orange (albeit burnt).
In Texas A&M’s most spirited, feisty contest of the season — and one reminiscent of when the Aggies scrapped with old adversary Texas before a rowdy crowd in Reed Arena — A&M defeated Auburn 83-78.
“It took everything that we had to have a chance,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said.
The patient Aggies worked the ball inside late, with forward Julius Marble sinking consecutive hook shots — speaking of throwback basketball — to lift A&M to a 76-74 then 78-74 lead, the latter with 2:09 remaining and seemingly quashing the Tigers’ enthusiasm.
The ball sat on the back of the rim for what seemed to be seconds as the crowd held its collective breath before it dropped through the net.
“I got a little hyped about it, and we did our job at the end,” Marble said of his back-to-back clutch hook shots. “We kind of needed (those baskets), our offense was a little stagnant at the time. I knew we needed those shots, and I knew I could make them.”
Auburn (17-7, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) held an overall 38-32 advantage in points in the paint, but the Aggies (17-7, 9-2) came up big down low with the game on the line. A&M guard Wade Taylor IV scored a gamehigh 22 points and Marble added 20, and the Aggies overcame a 12point first-half deficit.
“That was one of our worst halves in SEC play,” Marble said, although the Aggies still led 3736 at the break. “I’m just glad we were able to turn it around.”
Marble added of Taylor taking over offensively down the stretch: “He’s our leader — ‘Four’ runs the show.”
Speaking of four, the Aggies have won four of their past five games in their quest to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2018 and their first under Williams, who’s in his fourth season. They’re working hard to overcome surprising nonconference losses to Murray State, Colorado, Boise State and Wofford that set them way behind in a quest to make the NCAA postseason.
That hard work included limiting Auburn to a lone field goal in the final four minutes. A&M also outrebounded its opponent, this time 38-34, for the 11th time in its past 13 games. In addition, the Aggies made a season-high 80 percent of their season high free-throw attempts (31-of-39).
“A lot of things have to go right to beat a team as good as they are,” Williams said. “There are some things that are not in the stat sheet that have to be the separator.”
Added Auburn coach Bruce Pearl of the Tigers making 9of-14 free throws (64 percent): “You’ve got to do a better job of defending without fouling.”
On Jan. 25, The Aggies snapped the Tigers’ 28-game home win streak, then best in the nation, in Neville Arena, with A&M guard Tyrece Radford scoring 30 points in the Aggies’ 79-63 blowout of the Tigers. Auburn was ranked 15th at the time but this week dropped out of the Associated Press poll following a school-record 32 consecutive weeks among the top 25.
The Aggies now head back on the road Saturday night at LSU. A&M defeated LSU 69-56 on Jan. 7 in Reed Arena while holding LSU to a season-low in points at the time. A&M also snapped a 10-game losing streak to LSU, which has since lost 10 straight games.
LSU plays at Mississippi State on Wednesday night before hosting the Aggies in the Maravich Center.
The Aggies’ past two trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2018 under then-coach Billy Kennedy were successful ones, each ending with Sweet 16 showings. Now they’re angling for a strong close to leave no doubt about their final intention.
“It would be foolish of us not to give our very best on the current chapter that we’re writing,” Williams said late Tuesday night of the Aggies figuratively “writing a book” along the way in trying to make the NCAA Tournament. “Let’s put ourselves in position to earn everything.”